Zuko's Father
by xhighflyerx
Summary: Picks up after The Search pt. 1 after Zuko reads his mothers letter.


If you havent read The Search yet, you better go read it ASAP  
This is a shot fic that picks up at the end of The Search part 1. I expect around three chapters or so.

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The minuet my eyes read those words.. 'our son' ..It felt like someone had kicked me in the chest. All the air left my lungs and my knees buckled beneath me. I managed to stick an arm out to catch myself as I fell to the ground gasping for a breath of air. Nothing made sense, and yet, everything made perfect sense.

No wonder my father never loved me..

It made sense suddenly how a man could be so heartless to his eldest child and only son. I had wondered for years how a man could scar the face of his own child and banish him from his home without a second thought. I could never make my father proud of me, his son, because I wasn't his son.

And then a small sense of relief flooded over me. I did not have my father.. uh... Ozai's blood pulsing through my veins. I was not connected to this bloodline of war and evil. I was clean..

And yet, this also meant I didn't possess the royal blood. I no longer possess my birth right, the divine right of kings, which entitled me to my throne. In fact, I'd never had it. And that meant.. that meant Azula..

She was the rightful heir to the throne.

My head was spinning with information and suddenly I felt sick. My mouth began to salivate and sensing what was about to happen I scooted away from Azula as quickly as I could without making a sound. Not half a second after I'd made it over to the opposite side of our make shift camp site, my stomach betrayed me. I gaged as my dinner made its way back up the throat and into a near by bush. this went on for three or four minutes before my stomach was emptied.

I heard a set of footsteps behind me, but kept my eyes glued on the ground, spitting in attempt to get the rotten taste out of my mouth.

"Zuko?"

It was Katara. Her voice calm and questioning. Apparently my little episode had awoken her form her slumber. I sighed to myself as I realized I was now likely going to be poked and prodded and in the meantime given an oral examination with any questions she saw fit to help her determine what was wrong with me."

"Zuko, are you alright?"

The waterbender knelt behind me and put a soft hand on my shoulder. I kept my eyes on the ground, fixed on a single blade of grass, and slowly shook my head back and fourth. There was no use denying it, I was not alright.

"Are you sick?"

I spit once more and wiped my mouth with my the sleeve of my tunic before turning to look at my friend.

"I don't know."

Her eyes were two large pools of concern and confusion. She removed her hand from my shoulder and placed it on my forehead

"You don't seem to have a fever, something you ate maybe?"

"Yeah, or something I read."

"What?"

I looked down at the letter, still crumpled in my hand. I didn't necessarily want everyone to know, but they had to find out eventually. I sighed and handed Katara the letter.

I watched her eyes move left to right across the page, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she read. I knew the exact moment Katara got to the part about me. She drew in a quick breath and her mouth formed a large 'O' shape.

"Oh Zuko!" She cried, dropping the letter and pulling me into an unwanted embrace.

At first I struggled against it, but Katara wasn't letting go and eventually I gave in, resting my face in the crook of her neck concentrating on keeping my breathing steady. My thoughts meanwhile wondered.. I thought of my childhood and how I never really felt a bond to my Ozai like I had my mother. I thought of my scar and the Agni Kai. I thought of how it must have been a win win for the then Fire Lord. He was able to take his anger on Ursa out on the face of her betrayal, my face, and get rid of me for good in the process. And then, I thought of Uncle, and although I knew it was a foolish thought, I feared his reaction upon learning I wasn't really his nephew.

I found myself shivering and I pulled myself out of Katara's grip. My breathing was getting louder as i struggled to keep it under control. I wasn't going to lose control and break down, especially with Azula sleeping just across camp.

"I-I don't understand Katara.."

"Its going to be okay."

"No!" I yelled a little louder than I meant too and bolted to my feet. "You don't know that!"  
I paused to take a deep breath in a desperate attempt to keep my emotions in check.

"Zuko I-"

"You don't understand.. My whole life is a lie.. I-I don't even know who I am.. I-"

Katara stood up then and grabbed my face, roughly turning it toward her own. Her face was serious and stern.

"Listen to me. We will figure this out. You are the same person today as you were yesterday. Nothing has changed about you. You are no different and neither is your family. Your father is the same person today as he was yesterday, you just didn't know it yesterday. You can't let a scribble of symbols on a mere letter affect you so greatly Zuko. Not now, this is not the time."

I sighed realizing she was right, but i still felt anxious. I still couldn't believe it.

"We are going to figure this all out. All of us, together."

"But Azula.. and my throne..Katara, I don't know if-"

"Zuko." She cut me of yet again, stern as ever, "It will all get figured out."

I bowed my head and turned my back to the waterbender. My head was still racing with thoughts and it was beginning to give me a migraine. "I think I just need to be alone for a little while. I'm sorry."

"Go on, I understand." She said sadly.

With that I began to walk off into the forest with no idea where I was headed. I knew Katara would likely tell Aang and Sokka the news, but I was okay with that. I didn't trust myself to keep my emotions in check while explaining it to them. Even though they were likely my closest friends, and I knew they couldn't care less, I still didn't like looking weak in front of anyone. Katara was enough.

I wondered for awhile and found myself along the edge of a shallow brook. The water made a surprising loud trickling sound as it weaved itself around the numerous stones in its path. The noise was comforting to listen to. I laid myself down in the grass along the waters edge, my arms folded behind my head, and closed my eyes. I focused on the trickling stream rather than the knot in my stomach or the hurricane of thoughts inside my head.

I didn't want to deal with this right now. It had been a hard enough day as it was with the unexpected visit from the mysterious spirit. It was late now, the moon had just about reached its peak in the sky. Instead, I started to slow down my breathing until it was calm and steady preparing myself for sleep to overcome me. It wasn't long until I drifted off.


End file.
